Door-closing mechanism



March 6, 1928. Y 1,661,273

, o. P. SMITH Y DOOR CLOSING MECHANISM Filed Aue. 12. 1926 OWEN P. sMrTH, or MIAMI; FLORIDA; HA

,fr AffrnNrpornos; f

NNAHM. sMI'THADMINIsT-RATRIX or lsnm ewan r; sii'iirLiDEcEA-SED. e

Y Doon-CLOSING MECHANISM Application filed August 12, 192.' SerialrNo. 128,808.v

My invention relates to means for providingfor the concealment of thelure -in dog racing courses, vafter the V4race V'has been completed. A p

'Gne-object is to provide adoor through which saidl lure may bev conductedV at the completion of the'race; l v

Another objecty is to provide automatic means for `closing said `door after the lure, e

` vside track provided. Y A ,door 1 is provided' Vat a suitable distance romtheswitch for the lure to pass through the housing 2 and be l0 has passed through'fit. Y Y Y With the abovevand other objects in view, which willfmoreparticularly appear in the `accompanying specification, I have illustra-y lpreventing the vdogs pursuingsaid lure.ur -'ther. The housing 2'which has an inclined''m :top as clearly illustrated'inFig. 3 of the ted in thedrawi'ngs accompanyingone em- V bodiment ofmy invention asused by mein my dog racing courses. ,Itfwillbe apparent that the form may be altered to meet the requirements for other` purposes without departing from the spirit of myfinvention.V

Like numerals of reference indicate similar parts throughout the variousviews in the accompanyingdrawings, in which, f 4

lFigure 1 is a perspective showing part of the housing and the door shown yin closed position.

open and `taken'ifrom one side.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. `4 'is .a detail ihorizontal' sectional vf view illustrating the bellxcrank connection betweenthel contact lever and the supporting.

rod. i vv Fig., 5 is a diagrammatic view illustrating thearrangement of the device with' relation carriedaround the race course by means of" The electric Ycar andA thev an electric car. e rail track upon which 1t 1s operated, lare .usually concealed lby means of a housing,

the only parts being visible being the arm ex-A tending out on the course, and the lure mounted at the end of the arm. i l/Vhen the predetermined course haslieen run by the dogs, it is necessary `to conceal the lure in order that the dogs will stop for lack of an object to puruse, andas the dogsA are;

following at a speed of approximately sixty feet a second, and are only'twenty to thirtyv feet -behind the lure, it will Abe apparentV Figure 2 1s an elevation showingthe door `that the lure must'be concealed very quickly tov prevent/the dogs .from 'following through ,the opening i passed 1 through which the lure has To accomplish this purposfal have profO vided av suitable switch` inthe rail track (not shown) which can beoperated by; hand,

andafter the race yhas started, ,this switch can be thrown toswitch theV car upon the concealedbehind said door, said door also drawing, is provided with an angle to 'recelve the door which 1s yarranged `atl right angles "to the side of'- the; housng as .clearly "shown inFig. -2 ofthe .drawing The ar- 75 rangementoffthe transversely disposeddoor inthe angle .of thehousing will permit the carto travel alongthe side of the housing` and4 carry. thelure past the door sov that the ydoor will conceal'thelure and yprevent ac- S0 cess of the dogs to 'thesameL y To operate this door in theshort space ot time .permitted between the passage; of the lure andv the approach of *the dogs, .I have preferably mounted it by means of spring ,actuated 55 hinges at the topfat 3, 3, whereby the door vis operated, not',r only by gravity, when released by the means-hereinafter described, .but also' by thesprings.inithefhinges lThis provides a very quick, Vlposit`ii`fe',`and certainmeans of 90 'Y f closing it against entry of thevdogs.

v While any formI oflatch may beemployed to latch the door lfopen, Ilhave preferably employed a rod .4,.which projects'through lan opening 5v in' thehousing, which said 95 Y opening also provides a :slidway or` guide for said rod in? operation. "As the rod-4V is designed to slideendways in itsoperation, a second slideway or guide 6 is provided ,attached totheframe underneath the'hous- 100 ing. A stop 7 is attached to the Yrod which Y limits its outward ,movement by contact with the housing through which the rod passes. A spring 8 has one end att-ached to the rod, and the other to a suitable point on the i l trame of the housing 4to provide al tension for holding the bar 4 normally 'in' the path ottravel of the door l whileclosing. To set the doorlopen as shown in Figure 2,-

the'rod l is pushed inward.againstV the tenrll sion of the vspring 8. The door is raised y above the end of the rod 4, which is then released, and the spring returns it to its normal position, in which position, the door rests upon the rod, and Vis prevented from vclosing. To withdraw the rod automatically, and permit the closing-of the door when the lure passes through, I have proi vided a bell crank 9 pivotally mounted upon the traino, with one end connected to the rod 4 by thefchain 10, and the reverse end ofthe bell crank connected to the contact lever 11 by the. chain 12. The lower end of the lever 11 is in line of passage of the electric car Vcarrying the lure,v and when the Vcar passes, the lever is pushed backward,

withdrawing the rod 4 out of line with the l door 1, through means of the bell-crank 9 f connecting saidrod and lever. At the lower tact padding as liber or the like at 13 to 'end yof the lever 11, I haveprovided con- 'receive the impact of the ear thereagainst.

\ In the detail drawing Figure 4 I have shown the lever pivoted at its 'upper end in the `frame at 14, with the chain 11 connected intermediary the pivoty andthe lower endl as shown. p In operating my invention, after the car is backed out upon-the circular rail track to startthe race, the door 1 is opened, and the rod 4 is placed beneath to hold it open as shown in Figure 2. The switch is set to f conduct the car on to the siding, whenever i it isdesired to terminate the race, and as the car passes on to the siding, the lureis carried through the open door 1. The frame of the car contacts with the contact lever 11, pushing it backward, until the bellcrank operated thereby pulls the bar 4 back to release the door 1. Thedoor 1 then vquickly closes under pressure of the spring actuated hinges 3, 3 and the force of gravity, and the lure is concealed within thehousing, out of Vsight ofthe dogs.`

, Having thus describedmy invention, what I claim andv desirevto secure by Letters Patent,is thetollowing1-V 1. In a device of the class described, a door-hinged at the top, a horizontally slid- -able'rod arranged toextend beneath lthe door when the latter is opena pendent re- .leasing lever pivoted at its upper end and having its lower portion arranged to be 'L struck by a moving car, and means for connecting the lever with the rod for withdrawing the same from beneath the open door when the said lever is struck by the Y 2. In a device of the class described, aV

door 'hinged at the top, a horizontally slidable rod arranged to extend beneath the -f door when the latter is open, a pendent releasing lever pivoted at its upper end and provided at its lower end with a pad adapted to be struck by a moving car, and means vfor connecting the lever with the rod for withdrawing the same from beneath the door topermit the latter to close when the lever is struck by a car. Y Y

3. Ina device of the classjdescribed,

door hinged at the top, a horizontally slid-f is actuated by acar.

when 'the' ,leverV 4. In a device of the class described, a

door hinged at the top, a. horizontally slidable rod arranged to extend beneath the door when-the same is opened, a releasing lever pivoted at its upper end andprovided i at the lower end with a pad and adaptedto be struck by a car, and a. horizontallydisposedbell crank lever Connected with'the inner end of the 'rod and with the upper portion of the lever Jfor withdrawing kthe rod from beneath the door when lthe lever is struck byacai'.l i, l f

5. In a device of the class described,the

combination of va housing having aiifangle,l

a doormountedin the angle and arranged transversely ofthe housing, -saiddoor'being hingedat the'top, a supportingirod movable through the housing and arranged to. r`project beneath the Ydoor when the vlatter 'is vswung upwardly to its open position',VV a contact lever pivoted at its upper end and Yhaving 4its lower portion arranged to be struck by a moving car, andnieans for connecting` thefsaid member with the rod 'for withdrawing the saine frombeneath the4 openv door whenthe lever is struck by they car.

In testimony whereof, I have duly signed the foregoing spec-irisation'.vk f

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